Tennessee, Once Welcoming to Muslims, Now Filled with Hate

Tennessee, Once Welcoming to Muslims, Now Filled with Hate

Tennessee, Once Welcoming to Muslims, Now Filled with Hate
Albert Mestre [GFDL or CC BY-SA 3.0], from Wikimedia Commons
The home Muslims found in Tennessee is now turning against them.

In the year 1965, when the United States loosened its immigration laws, a lot of Muslims flocked to America. Most of them were highly educated, holding master's degrees in engineering, PhDs, and MDs. According to Edward E. Curtis IV, the author of Muslims in America: A Short History, most of them became doctors and engineers, and served mostly in the rural areas, and provided for the betterment and development of the American community.

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Tennessee, Once Welcoming to Muslims, Now Filled with Hate
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Tennessee has been one of the  Muslim-friendly places at that time. In the 1990s, the state developed its first substantial Muslim enclave, to accommodate the hundreds of Iraqi Kurds escaping Saddam Hussein’s tyranny. The president of the Salahadeen Islamic Center, Nawzad Hawrami, recalls the hospital staff bringing balloons and flowers when his wife gave birth to their first daughter.

Daoud Abudiab arrived in America in the year 1985 to pursue higher education. He joined the college in Little Rock, Arkansas. He met his future wife, Robin, at a Halloween party. Robin was undergoing a crisis of faith at that time. From Abudiab, she learned about Islam and liked everything about it. She then married Abudiab. Her parents were hurt, at first, especially her father who was a Methodist preacher.

The Abudiab family moved to Columbia, Tennessee in the year 1998. In the year 2000, they bought a modest home and settled in for a peaceful life. Then September 11, 2001, happened. It changed the attitude of the American people towards Muslims. Of course, an outright backlash did not happen. In fact, it was only a few people who started showing their displeasure against the Muslims at first. In Tennessee, when a lot of Muslims feared outrage, they were surprised to be met with goodwill in the streets.

However, September 11, eventually ignited a sense of anti-Islam among many Americans. In the year 2008, the white supremacists burned down the Islamic Center of Columbia, Tennessee, citing that the center has been involved in anti-Christian activities. Baptist churches started holding lectures on the evils of Islam. Cathy Hinners, an anti-Muslim blogger, and activist, openly said that the Muslims who follow their Prophet Muhammad “are violent,” that they attack women and consider women slaves. She even said that Muslims “have pedophilia that runs in their bloodstream.”

With the Republican presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Donald Trump openly speaking against Muslims, the anti-Islam attitude will only go up in America. Already there has been a lot of attacks against Muslims and Mosques.

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